Pay Differential for Exempt Employee Working Non-exempt position
JohnDavisSNI
1 Post
We have individuals whose main job is managment (exempt). They are provided opportunities to work extra hours performing duties that are typically done by non-exempt employees. Can I pay the exempt employee at a rate similar to the non-exempt when performing those duties or do I have to pay them at an hourly rate that would be similar to their exempt rate of pay?
Comments
The issue is the number of horus they will be doing this other work. If it becomes enough, it may affect their "manager" status. In the past we have allowed our supervisors to earn additional income by doing other duties. We had a policy in place outlining that this was voluntary on their part, above and beyond their normal duties, what the compensation was, and the limit of additional compensation they could receive. I believe we only allowed an additional 5-8 hours in a week, paid at a supplemental rate. I also had a job that had a couple of crunch weeks. Employees that worked additional hours in the critical department received a supplemental pay of $50 or $100 flat, regardless of the amount of extra hours put in.
DOL requires that you not DOCK an exempt employee's salary, it doesn't say anything about paying them extra. But, a DOL audit will look at what the manager "regularly" does. And if those additional hours are regular enough, and a large enough percentage of the total work performed by the employee, then the exempt status may be invalidated and you would be required to back pay OT.